A study on Chinese ancient timber structures by shaking table test

An intermediate bay model of an ancient palace was made according to Fabrication Methods of the Song dynasty, on which the shaking table test was carried out. El Centro, Taft and Lanzhou waves were chosen as input seismic excitations. The displacement and acceleration responses of the shaking table, column ends, column upper and beam under different levels of earthquake excitation were measured. The failure mode, natural period, damping ratio, dynamic responses, and hysteretic energy dissipation performance were analyzed. Test results indicate that the range of natural period T is 0.48~0.67 s and the damping ratio ξ is 0.029~0.046. The first period and damping ratio of the model increase along with the increasing seismic excitations. The dynamic magnification factor β is less than 1 and decreases as the input seismic excitations increase. The dougong layer and column base dissipate seismic energy by means of frictional slippage. The mortise-tenon joint of the frame has the largest energy dissipation capacity, playing an important role in shock absorption.